One of the problems of doing the Fringe is the extraordinary amount of other shows that are on stage when your show is on stage so you can’t get to see them. Then the addition of doing all the interviews that we are doing to promote the Autumn tour also reduces the spare time available.

I thought I would have loads of time up here to edit videos, see shows, and so on but that really has not been the case at all and even walking the rabbits (I carry them, they are not on leashes) back to the flat diminishes the time.

One of the most interesting observations I have made, when guesting on other shows and also visiting the few shows that I have been able to get to see is how times they are a-changing. There are some comedians out there still using the infamous four-letter words but, and this is not me being a prude or expressing my own way of working, I have noticed that the most sustained laughter comes when such words are not included in the show.

On TV I know that producers have the words edited out and the comedians look like family entertainers. The posters up here do have age limits printed on them but I was watching the audience, both young and old, at a concert the other night and the f word, used a lot, always made the audience reaction dip down and it took a while to climb back up again. I wonder if the pendulum is starting to swing back and the shock value is now fading away.

Here in Edinburgh the range of shows is extra-ordinary, from high drama through am-drams, musicals, comedians, oddball stuff. I do think that some of the ‘reviews’ must be written by the cast because my visiting friends have reported back that some well reviewed shows were pretty dire, and should be rated below amateur level.

The funniest show by far that we have seen was that of Kev Orkian whose range of talents are extraordinary. See him if you can wherever he may be. Funny and fascinating was The Boy with Tape on his Face and again highly recommended. A more than pleasant surprise was One Night Stan, a play written and acted by Miles Gallant which took us into Stan Laurel’s dressing room on the last night of the last tour. Anyone in show business can ‘feel’ that and we all enjoyed the show.

A bigger surprise for me, having worked with Bobby Crush on and off over the years, was his presentation of Liberace. The script is funny, Bobby acts the part so well, and of course the piano playing is amazing, especially the last ‘selection’. This may be coming to town, as they say. See it.

Bunnies are happy this morning after we drove out to the incredible Dobbie’s Garden Centre near here and bought them toys and stuff. Now I am off to do a Q and A with another magician, Paul Zenon, firing the questions at me. He raises money to take the elderly out to shows so I said yes to that one. I wonder what he will ask…